dried pork, those west of Lake Superior, "Couriers of the Woods," and
they fed on pemmican, the dried flesh of the buffalo. They were mighty
in strength, daring in spirit, tractable in disposition, eagles in
swiftness, but withal had the simplicity of little children. They made
short the weary miles on the rivers by their smoking "tabac"--the time
to smoke a pipe counting a mile--and by their merry songs, the "Fairy
Ducks" and "La Claire Fontaine," "Malbrouck has gone to the war," or
"This is the beautiful French Girl"--ballads that they still retained
from the French of Louis XIV. They were a jolly crew, full of
superstitions of the woods, and leaving behind them records of daring,
their names remain upon the rivers, towns and cities of the Canadian and
American Northwest.

Some thirty years before the arrival of the Colonists, the Montreal
traders found it useful to form a Company. This was called the
North-West Fur Company of Montreal. Having taken large amounts out of
the fur trade, they became the leaders among the merchants of Montreal.
The Company had an energy and ability that made them about the beginning
of the nineteenth century the most influential force in Canadian life.
At Fort William and Lachine their convivial meetings did something to
make them forget the perils of the rapids and whirlpools of the rivers,
and the bitterness of the piercing winds of the northwestern stretches.
Familiarly they were known as the "Nor'-Westers." Shortly before the
beginning of the century mentioned, a split took place among the
"Nor'-Westers," and as the bales of merchandise of the old Company had
upon them the initials "N.W.," the new Company, as it was called, marked
their packages "XY," these being the following letters of the alphabet.

Besides these mentioned there were a number of independent merchants, or
free traders. At one time there were at the junction of the Souris and